Global Collapse-Chapter 401 - 384: You Haven’t Watched for One Year_1
Under the pitch-black sky, three people, three corpses, and a guitar case were gathered in silence.
It was a bizarre scene; if a police officer happened to pass by, they would undoubtedly haul the three of them off to the station without hesitation.
Guo Jimei hesitated before stepping forward to approach the three corpses. Their faces looked particularly eerie in the darkness, but Guo Jimei mustered her courage for a closer look.
It was Yuan Qinghua, Pan Yue, and Zhang Pingfan.
At this point, Keke also stepped forward, positioning herself in front of Guo Jimei and looking down. "I didn’t expect Zhang Pingfan to be here too..."
As she spoke, she looked up at Gu Mian. "When you arrived, were they all already dead?"
Gu Mian crouched down, looking at Zhang Pingfan’s body. Not long ago, Xu Xingcheng lay here, but now Xu Xingcheng was lying somewhere else.
He looked up at Keke. "When I arrived, only Yuan Qinghua and Pan Yue were here, and they were already dead. Zhang Pingfan’s body was in a room in the adjacent building. It was pitch-black inside, so I dragged him out."
As Gu Mian spoke, he pointed towards the tallest nearby building.
Hearing this, Guo Jimei looked at the ground. Although it was dark, under the flashlight’s glow, she could still see drag marks on the dirt road.
Guo Jimei took a step back. "So... Zhang Pingfan was also killed. Now it’s just the three of us and Meiren Chu left!"
"Although I don’t know why Yuan Qinghua would do this..." Guo Jimei looked at Yuan Qinghua’s corpse and took a deep breath. "I’ll use my Decisive Vote on Meiren Chu this round. If we vote out Meiren Chu, the game will end!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand to look at her watch. A pen fell from her pocket, making a clear sound.
Keke crouched beside the corpses, listening to Guo Jimei’s voice from behind her. "It’s two fifty-five now. Just five more minutes, and we’ll win!"
"Yes, we’ve finally survived," Keke responded happily. She heard Guo Jimei behind her apparently bending down to pick up the pen, followed by a RUSTLING sound.
Keke stared at the three corpses on the ground. "But Meiren Chu wouldn’t suddenly appear to take one of us down with him, right?"
But then, a long silence followed.
No one answered her.
Neither Gu Mian in front of her nor Guo Jimei behind her.
The atmosphere suddenly grew somewhat eerie.
Keke paused, then looked up at Gu Mian in front of her.
Gu Mian wasn’t paying attention to her; instead, he was looking at Guo Jimei behind her.
"What’s wrong?" Keke frowned and looked back. The first things she saw were a pen and a palm-sized notebook—the Prophecy Book.
Guo Jimei held these two items, apparently having just used them.
She stood in the dark, her bangs obscuring her eyes, revealing only the lower half of her face, which was expressionless.
Gu Mian slowly stood up, looking at Guo Jimei, who stood motionless in the darkness. "What’s wrong?"
Guo Jimei stared intently at the Prophecy Book in her hands.
Gu Mian saw her right hand go limp, and the pen dropped to the ground.
Immediately after, Guo Jimei suddenly raised her head. Her eyes were wide as she stared wildly at Gu Mian, her voice eerie. "Gu Mian, Meiren Chu isn’t the ghost, is he?"
"Although I don’t understand the first part... it clearly says ’Commoner’ at the end of his identity."
As she spoke, she abruptly thrust the Prophecy Book in her hand forward.
Gu Mian then saw the words on it:
[Name: Meiren Chu]
[Identity: Experiment, Chu Changge, Guardian, Student, Commoner]
"See? Meiren Chu isn’t the ghost at all!" Guo Jimei said, a somewhat twisted smile spreading across her face. "It’s you, isn’t it? You’re a master deceiver. We’ve all been completely fooled by you."
"Keke, this round, let’s... No, actually, it’s not necessary. I have the Decisive Vote. Whoever I vote for this round will be eliminated," Guo Jimei said, raising her hand and looking at Gu Mian. "So, this round, I’ll vote for you directly. Look, it’s less than two minutes until three o’clock. You’re about to be out."
Seeing Guo Jimei’s somewhat crazed expression, Gu Mian reached out and touched the guitar case beside him.
Just then, Keke, who was crouching on the ground, suddenly stood up and looked towards the nearby building. "Meiren Chu is over there! I’ll go get him!"
Guo Jimei looked over in surprise. Sure enough, Chu Changge was standing there in the darkness. But then he retreated a few steps and was completely swallowed by the shadows.
"Wait!" Guo Jimei tried to call out to Keke.
But Keke seemed not to hear her at all and quickly vanished into the same patch of darkness where Chu Changge had disappeared.
"Keke..." Guo Jimei stared at Keke’s disappearing figure, stunned for several seconds.
But before she could look away, a scream pierced the air from the adjacent building.
It was Keke’s scream.
Guo Jimei stared in that direction, shocked. "What’s going on?!"
Immediately after, she saw a staggering figure run out from the darkness. It was Keke.
Keke was clutching something in one hand, while her other hand was pressed tightly against her neck, blood spraying from between her fingers.
Guo Jimei quickly ran over. "Keke! What happened to you?"
Keke, stumbling badly, suddenly collapsed. Even so, she desperately clawed her way towards Guo Jimei.
Guo Jimei quickly knelt beside Keke, her eyes wide with shock. "What’s going on?!"
Keke released her grip on her neck and grabbed Guo Jimei’s clothes with a blood-soaked hand, gasping, "It was... Meiren Chu... He killed me!"
Guo Jimei saw the blood gushing continuously.
"Impossible!" She stared wide-eyed at the Prophecy Book in her hand. "Meiren Chu is clearly not the ghost! It can’t be him!"
"It... is him..." Keke suddenly struggled to sit up, extending her other hand—the one protecting the object she had run out with.
Guo Jimei looked. It was a phone.
She had no time to wonder where the phone came from. She had to check its contents immediately. It was another video.
The background was a pitch-black room, illuminated only by a small flashlight. Two people were in the frame.
It was a living Zhang Pingfan and Meiren Chu, standing face to face.
Guo Jimei quickly turned her head in shock to look at Zhang Pingfan’s corpse. Zhang Pingfan had contact with Meiren Chu before he died?
Just then, a voice suddenly blared from a nearby loudspeaker:
"The third night has ended. Voting will begin shortly. All players must select their voting target within one minute."
The video had started playing automatically and was only about ten seconds long.
Guo Jimei watched the video: Meiren Chu drew a knife on Zhang Pingfan...
So, Meiren Chu killed Zhang Pingfan first? Is that why Yuan Qinghua and Pan Yue died together when Yuan Qinghua killed Pan Yue?
Guo Jimei’s eyes widened, then she shook her head. "No, Meiren Chu is not the ghost! The Prophecy Book said he’s not the ghost!"
But Commoners can’t kill!
Yet the video clearly recorded him killing Zhang Pingfan, and he just attacked Keke!
If he attacked Keke, he should have been punished by now, right? Guo Jimei felt dazed, her mind in chaos, not knowing who to believe.
Just then, footsteps approached from ahead.
Guo Jimei stiffly raised her head to see Chu Changge emerging from the darkness, a blood-stained knife in his hand.
Keke looked at Chu Changge in terror, weakly struggling a few more times. "It’s him... It’s him!"
But after a few more words, she closed her eyes and died.
Keke was dead, yet the man who had emerged from the darkness remained completely unharmed.
Guo Jimei’s mouth fell open, her mind barely able to process anything.
Why! He’s not supposed to be the ghost!
As Chu Changge drew closer, Guo Jimei subconsciously wanted to flee.
But as soon as she moved, she found her clothes firmly clutched by Keke’s dead hand.
She looked down. The video on the phone was replaying from the beginning, once again showing Meiren Chu drawing his knife on Zhang Pingfan.
The sight of Keke’s corpse and Zhang Pingfan dying in the video assaulted her vision.
The second hand on her wristwatch ticked relentlessly. The minute was almost up—less than ten seconds remaining.
The man with the knife drew nearer and nearer.
The approaching knife glinted, dazzling Guo Jimei’s eyes. As she dazedly watched Zhang Pingfan fall in the video, for a fleeting moment, Zhang Pingfan’s face seemed to morph into her own!
"I vote for Meiren Chu!" Guo Jimei finally clenched the Decisive Vote in her hand and cried out, her eyes squeezed shut.
The world fell silent for a moment.
But it wasn’t long before the anticipated announcement rang out.
This was the final verdict that would determine their fate.
"The third round of voting has ended. Two votes were cast this round, with one player abstaining. The player receiving the most votes in the third round is—"
"Meiren Chu, two votes. Due to a player’s use of the Decisive Vote, Meiren Chu is eliminated."
Gu Mian took a few steps forward to stand beside Guo Jimei.
Guo Jimei looked up at him blankly. "It’s over."
She then looked at Chu Changge in front of them.
Gu Mian saw Chu Changge freeze the instant Guo Jimei cast her vote. Then, a crisp CRACKING sound came from his body.
It was the same sound as when Li Wentao had died. Chu Changge’s body began to distort, and finally, he collapsed to the ground.
Guo Jimei stared blankly at the collapsed Meiren Chu as the distant voice began to announce the final results:
"The third round of the game has ended. Two players were killed, two players committed suicide, one player died due to a rule violation, and one player was voted out..."
What?! Upon hearing this, Guo Jimei’s eyes shot wide open.
Wasn’t Li Yibai the only one who committed suicide?
Keke, Pan Yue, and Zhang Pingfan were clearly killed by the ghost! Why did it say only two players were killed by the ghost?!
And then, a chilling voice continued, echoing in her ears:
"The fourth round of the game begins. Two players remain: one Commoner and one ghost."
Then, she saw Gu Mian, who was beside her, look down and offer an apologetic smile. "Sorry, it’s not over yet."
